Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom

Russian Embassy

"Meanwhile, the investigation is still not allowed to tell the public where S. (Sergei) and Y. (Yulia) Skripal were, and what they were doing after they drove from their home in the direction of Porton Down laboratory with phones supposedly turned off on the morning of March 4."

The road on which the Skripals were spotted leads to Porton Down, but it also leads to the cemetery where Sergei’s wife and son are buried. It was established long ago that Sergei and his daughter drove to visit their graves.

Following the withdrawal of NASA's invitation to Dmitry Rogozon, Vinogradov’s assessment is inaccurate: while it can be argued that the U.S. companies and NASA will have to change their plans, Russia, facing the loss of billions in U.S. funding, will be the biggest loser.

After testing the Avangard hypersonic glider, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the rocket system is “invulnerable” to interception. And while the Avangard has stoked fears some corners, Putin’s claim it is impervious to existing and prospective missile-defense systems is unverified.

Vladimir Putin

President of the Russian Federation

“Now about Wagner and what people are doing. Everyone must stay within the law, everyone. … We can ban private security activity in general, but one has only has to do this and, I think, they will come to you with a large number of petitions, demanding protection of this labor market. We have almost a million people working there. If this Wagner group is violating something, then the Prosecutor General’s Office should give a legal assessment.”

Wagner -- which has enjoyed support from the Russian defense establishment and is most likely a creation of the Russian Defense Ministry -- is in violation of the Russian law banning mercenary activity.

Vladimir Putin

Russian President

“... We know the largest American base has existed on Okinawa for a long time, for a decade now … the Governor of Okinawa is against ... its expansion. He's against it ... And the people who live there are against it.”

Okinawa hosts 32 U.S. military facilities – the highest concentration of the American military bases in Japan. The local government and population oppose the presence of those bases, citing environmental pollution and economic losses.

The original ‘report’ of destruction emerged from Islamic State media, was picked up by Syrian media and later the Russian state media outlet. The hospital in question was still standing as of December 9. An explosion was reported in the hospital that day, but what caused it is unclear.

Patrick Lancaster

Patrick Lancaster, Video Blogger in Donbas

“If someone looks at a map of the areas that he’s put martial law in affect, these are all of the pro-Russian areas, the areas that either he did not vote in the 2014 election because they were part of their own new country, Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republic, or that Poroshenko lost.”

Donbas-based Video blogger Patrick Lancaster appeared on RT’s Going Underground TV show to argue that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko rolled out martial law in “the pro-Russian” regions that he lost in the 2014 elections. The facts show otherwise.

Dmitry Smirnov

Kremlin Special Correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper

“At the age of 94, George Bush Sr. died - the man who started the Gulf War, marking the beginning of the current chaos in the Middle East.
If we say nothing but good about the dead, about Bush Sr. say nothing.”

While many have criticized President George H.W. Bush for an inconclusive outcome of the Persian Gulf War, it is simplistic and misleading to attribute Middle Eastern conflicts, or “current chaos” to Bush’s actions in 1991.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A screen capture of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Twitter page.

“We drew attention to information about the growing number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan as a result of the actions of foreign troops. A recent example is the airstrike by international forces in Garmsir district, Helmand province, which killed 23 civilians and injured 3 others. According to preliminary data, eight women and 10 children were among the victims.”

With U.S. Air Force statistics showing the U.S. has dropped more bombs on Afghanistan than at any point since 2006, the civilian causalty count from airstrikes is growing. But it remains unclear if the total number of civilians killed and injured by actions of international forces is rising.

Vladimir Putin mocked the idea of a U.S. submarine visiting a Russian base like in the Hollywood film “Hunter Killer,” saying the recently seized Ukrainian ships “gifted by the U.S.” couldn't even traverse the Kerch Strait. But like the film, the claim those boats are from America is fiction.

With a new court filing alluding to a possible plea deal, a Russian journalist has claimed without evidence that indicted Russian agent Maria Butina will be granted U.S. citizenship after being tortured in prison. But Butina’s solitary confinement does raise troubling questions.